FA Cup 3rd Round Draw Verdict

The draw for the FA Cup 3rd Round was made earlier this evening and there are a number of interesting ties to look forward to next month.

This is what I thought of the draw.

There aren't that many stand out ties but if I had to pick one, it would have to Spurs taking on Aston Villa because they're two sides going for the same goal in Champions League football and two very good teams on paper. This one will hopefully be a good and close game as they're both evenly matched on paper.

The biggest shock of the round could come from non-league Macclesfield who will be taking on the holders in Crystal Palace. Macclesfield are a relatively new club having been founded in 2020 and this game will be by far the biggest in their history. Their fans will no doubt be excited and it would be arguably the biggest giant killing in FA Cup history if they were to pull it off.

We could also have a shock coming from one League 2 club in Shrewsbury who will be taking on Premier League strugglers Wolves. The Shrews will fancy their chances of causing an upset in this one because of the struggles Wolves have had this season and it would be one massive shock if they were to pull it off due to the gap between the two clubs.

Two clubs in League 1 have the chance to cause an upset as well in Exeter and Barnsley with Exeter taking on last season's runners up Man City and Barnsley facing Liverpool at Anfield. Both shocks would be massive if they were to happen with Exeter beating City being for me the bigger shock because they're the smaller club as they've spent most of their time in the Football League between League's 1 and 2.

We could also see some shocks coming from Championship sides in Wrexham, Charlton, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Middlesbrough, Millwall, Portsmouth and Derby. Wrexham will face off against Nottingham Forest, Charlton will be taking on Chelsea, QPR have a London Derby to look forward at West Ham, Sheffield Wednesday will face Brentford, Middlesbrough will travel to Fulham, Millwall will be taking on Burnley, Portsmouth will face record winners Arsenal and Derby will be taking on Leeds.

There are also three other all-Premier League ties to look forward to with Everton taking on Sunderland, Newcastle taking on Eddie Howe's former club Bournemouth and Man United taking on Brighton.

FULL FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW:

Wolves v Shrewsbury

Doncaster v Southampton

Tottenham v Aston Villa

Port Vale v Fleetwood

Preston v Wigan

Ipswich v Blackpool

Wrexham v Nottingham Forest

Charlton v Chelsea

Man City v Exeter

West Ham v QPR

Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford

Fulham v Middlesbrough

Everton v Sunderland

Liverpool v Barnsley

Burnley v Millwall

Norwich v Walsall

Portsmouth v Arsenal

Derby v Leeds

Swansea v West Brom

Salford v Swindon

Boreham Wood v Brackley/Burton

Grimsby v Weston-Super-Mare

Hull v Blackburn

Newcastle v Bournemouth

MK Dons v Oxford

Cheltenham v Leicester

Cambridge v Birmingham

Bristol City v Watford

Stoke v Coventry

Macclesfield v Crystal Palace

Man United v Brighton

Sheffield United v Mansfield